Poverty Manifesto By Smiley And Cornel West

In April 2012, news organization Democracy Now! interviewed authors Travis Smiley and Cornel West about their book about poverty in America called The Rich and the Rest of Us: A Poverty Manifesto. They published their book a few years after the Great Recession in 2008 and a few months after the Occupy Wall Street demonstrations against economic inequality. In 2012, Barack Obama was also seeking reelection for the presidency against Republican candidate Mitt Romney. One of the core critiques of their book is that politicians and the government are not doing enough to address poverty in America and that society’s attitudes towards the issue as a whole needs to change. They also argue that poverty is a critical issue in society and one that goes

In Smiley and West’s interview they heavily criticize both candidates for their deprioritization of poverty in their platforms and policies. They argue that poverty is a critical issue in any federal election because a largely impoverished population threatens America’s national security and democracy. The last time that the federal government put forth any large effort to fight poverty was President LBJ’s War on Poverty. Since that policy, no president has used their executive power to establish a commission entirely dedicated to eradicating poverty. Smiley and West believe that this is not because the government does not have the knowledge or capability to do so, but because it is not a political priority for those in

Smiley and West frequently reference Dr. Martin Luther King Jr’s famous speech on the Vietnam War which criticizes the American government for using the war as a diversion from domestic issues. They commend King for his courage to explicitly address the government’s shortcomings and state that “War is the enemy of the poor.” American intervention abroad can benefit the White Agenda because the government can project an image of a White Savior furthering democracy and freedoms in tyrannical states. On the other hand the image of America’s success is tainted by the legacy of poverty in this country, and to even address the problem would be an admittance of its